Tucker is an avid points and miles enthusiast. Being fully involved in the world of credit cards and frequent flying for only a few years now, he brings a very fresh and unique perspective to the world of travel.

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About

Hello, and welcome to Made of Miles.

My name is Tucker and I consider myself to be a travel enthusiast, but by no means a travel expert. I am not going to tell you flat out to go read other blogs (as that would be terrible marketing), but there are plenty of people out there that have flown way more than me, stayed at more hotels, and frankly been able to see more than I have — good or bad, that just means more experience. My inspiration for this blog comes from the hope that I can relate more to people my age. Having 20 open credit cards and maintaining elite status is one thing, but what about all those people that fiscally can’t maintain that? That’s the sweet spot I’m trying to hit.

The one thing that differentiates me from my peers is that I travel weekly for work. I am a software consultant, which means traveling to the client site, and more importantly racking up miles and hotel stays. Some may see this as a downside, being away from home so much, but I relish at the opportunity to travel. There is something about being 30,000 feet in the air, soaring at 500 mph in a metal tub that just makes me giddy. I love the flying, but in my short time working I’ve already got to see parts of the country that I probably would have never been to in any other circumstances. There is something I find fascinating in exploring — not exactly in a big city or major national park — but new people and culture (even in our own country) can really open your eyes.

I find myself to be incredibly lucky in my upbringing, but one thing that I’ve missed is the world. The summer before I graduated college I did a “quick” trip to Europe, hitting a lot of the major sites, and from that point on I knew I wanted to see so much more. I made a lot of mistakes, flew across the Atlantic without gaining miles, but ultimately fell in love with possibility. There is so much out there to be explored, so many people to interact with, so much food to try, so much to see! I am hoping that along with this blog my explorations will grow, we will all learn together and ultimately I can help others achieve similar success to me.

And now the part that keeps all this going — credit cards, and more importantly credit card points. I always knew that credit cards and miles were powerful, until I started actually using them did I realize just how powerful they really were. It is basically free money. One of the biggest problems I see from my peers is their fear of credit cards. Unfortunately, credit cards have a stigma that they’ll automatically gain interest, continually compound your debt, and ultimately crumble you financially. If not treated correctly, this can definitely happen — if you treat your credit cards as a free ride to your credit limit, you will just bury yourself in debt. But what I continually tell my friends is to treat credit cards as you would a debit card — never buy something you don’t have the money for. If you strategically sign-up and spend on credit cards, the world is your oyster. As I’ve mentioned, I am learning every day as well — I hope that as I learn and share, I am able to educate some people just like me.

My immediate travel goals are so widespread — I want to see so much that it is hard to put my finger on one point or place. While there are a lot of major places I haven’t been, my main interest is to see the paths less travelled.

Wherever I go, I hope I can adequately share and assist with all of you — in the hopes that you will be able to do much the same as me. Stay tuned for what I hope is a thrilling and action-packed 2018!